If you love easy DIY projects and chocolate you're gonna need to try this - asap! For a while now I've been using oils to moisturize my skin which has worked well but I've always wondered what it would be like to use an all-natural body butter instead. Well my friends, let me tell you: it's amazing! The smell is so crazy good it's like you're coating yourself in chocolate. The texture is really great, it actually soaks into your skin like a lotion and you're not left feeling like you've just slathered yourself in oil. I love using it after a shower and I've actually been using it on my face as a moisturizer with promising results. Yay nature!

The actual process of making the body butter is fairly simple, you can have it done in one day and use it that night. To get started you're going to want to make sure you have a few things first: Raw Cocoa Butter, Virgin Cold-pressed Coconut Oil, and Grapeseed Oil. I chose grapeseed oil because I didn't want the end result to be too heavy but if you're looking for something more moisturizing you could use olive oil, jojoba oil, or avocado oil. You could also try a mix of a few different oils as long as they equal the same amount as the grapeseed oil to get the perfect body butter for you.

DIY Cocoa Butter Body Butter

Makes about 8-10 oz of product

1/2 Cup Cocoa Butter

1/4 Cup Coconut Oil

1/4 Cup Grapeseed Oil

DIRECTIONS:

Set up some form of a double boiler, for me that was a metal bowl on top of a little sauce pan with water in it. If all else fails use a microwave with a microwave safe bowl.

Using a cheese grater or a big spoon, collect shavings of your cocoa butter. Place all the shavings into the double boiler (or microwaveable bowl) along with the other oils.

On the stove top over low heat, heat up all the oils until melted, stirring as you go. In the microwave, microwave all the oils for 15 second intervals until melted, stirring as you go.

After everything is all melted and well combined put the bowl (with a pot holder) in the refrigerator until the oils firm up but aren't hard. 1-3 hours.

Using an electric stand mixer, hand mixer, or if you have the elbow grease a whisk to whip the firm blend until it reaches fluffy goodness. If the body butter seems too runny just pop it back into the fridge for a while and try mixing again once it becomes firmer.

Once the mixture is the desired texture place it into an airtight container, I used these jars but feel free to re-use a clean jar or tupperware.

NOTES:

Depending on the oils you use the body butter may look more yellow than white. The temperature of your house could cause the mixture to become more soft or firm once at room temperature. Because of this you might want to try making a smaller batch first so you can decide whether or not you want it thicker/firmer or creamy/runnier and change the ratios of oils accordingly. Basically more cocoa butter = thicker, more coconut oil = medium (depending on your house's room temperature), and more grapeseed oil = runnier. Once you want a bigger batch simply double or triple the recipe as needed. If you're allergic to cocoa butter or aren't fond of the chocolate smell you could use shea butter (I haven't tried shea butter so I can't guarantee the results but I'm sure they'd be great).

I shaved off some raw cocoa butter with a spoon but ended up using the spoon to take off hunks. Next time I'll use a cheese grater so it contains it more, making it easier to measure.

This is after I added in all the oils to the cocoa butter in my make shift double boiler over a low heat.

I chilled the melted oils for a few hours and this was the consistency.

After whipping it it seemed too runny so I put it back into the fridge to firm up some more.

Once it had chilled some more I took it out and whipped it again, this time it was the consistency I was looking for so I put it into my jars. You want to just keep playing with it until you like the texture and feel of it.

I used two 4oz jars and had a little bit left over, next time I think I'll make a bigger batch and fill more jars because this stuff is amazing!!